Cherish
by Kirbyhammer100
Summary: Raikou agrees to comfort Latias in her time of need. Latias/Raikou, and a bit of Giratina/Latios at the end. One shot. Typos fixed.
Hey guys! I decided I would try my hand at Raikou/Latias, because it's one of my favorites. Anyway, without further ado, Cherish!

* * *

"And now, my friends, we come to a... Particularly sad part of our meeting."

Raikou looked up. It wasn't the first time Arceus had said something like that. However, each time is turned out to be something mild, like a legendary failed to due their duty and so they faced a punishment. Every time, the thunder tiger thought it was the childish, pink cat Mew. It wasn't that Raikou hadn't gotten in trouble himself. It also wasn't that Raikou happened to be more mature. It was just that Mew got in trouble on almost a daily basis, and so every other legendary that got in trouble wasn't really thought of.

Raikou glanced across the Hall of Legends where each legendary took their place. His eyes happened to fall on Latias, who seemed down.

Actually, down was an understatement.

She looked as if her whole world was shattered. She looked as if everything she ever knew was a lie.

 _Uh oh,_ Raikou thought. He had guessed that it happened to do with the red eon dragon across from him.

"It seems," Arceus began, with a depressing tone, "that Latios has died."

Raikou's eyes widened. Immediately he felt immense empathy towards Latias, for nobody in the legendary council had ever experienced anything like that. Arceus had informed them all at a meeting that Latias and Latios weren't invited to that said eon dragons were somewhat mortal, unlike most legendaries. They could still live forever, but they could die from injuries. Alto Mare was central to the world's survival, for what reason Raikou was uncertain, and so it had to have a security policy in case the eon dragons got captured or went missing and couldn't look after it. Arceus invented a way to protect Alto Mare with something as small as a pebble. It was all a concept though, and could not be done due to the fact that no materials he could come up with had that kind of power.

However, a legendary' energy was perfect for the task. Unfortunately, Arceus had to use the life of an eon dragon to generate the rock, which he named the soul dew. When there were three dragons, Alto Mare was fine. However, Latios and Latias's father had died, and two eon dragons couldn't look after the entire city. So the soul dew helped them perform that action.

Raikou, along with the rest of the legendaries, were shocked to know that. However, Arceus would not take any criticism from the legendaries. He made Latios and Latios powerful to prevent the death of the eon dragons.

 _It didn't work,_ Raikou thought bitterly. As he looked at the shocked faces of some legends and the sympathetic expressions of others, he knew his emotion all too well.

Love.

Raikou had come to terms with his love for Latias a while ago, but this situation did not make it any easier.

"So wait," Mew began, after all of the legendaries calmed down, "Latios died, which means his spirit got sent to the underworld."

All of the legendaries looked at Giratina, who had a look of pure anger.

"It doesn't work that way," she said bitterly.

"Yes," Arceus confirmed, "I'm afraid that Arceus's death is permanent."

"Regardless of this news," Arceus said, "you will all still be required to perform your legendary actions. One of you, however, will be free of that."

Raikou was surprised. It wasn't common that Arceus gave freedom to the legends.

"One of you should comfort Latias in her time of grief, for it would not be easy for her to perform her task alone bearing sadness," Arceus continued. "So I am sending one legendary to help Latias protect Alto Mare and comfort her."

Before Raikou knew it, one legendary had been screaming, "I'll do it! I'll do it!"

The funny thing was, Raikou's mouth was open.

Raikou mentally slapped himself. Of course he did it! He would always want to be with Latias. However, if he wanted to make his love towards her more clear, he did just now.

The expressions from the legendaries in the room confirmed his thoughts. They either looked shocked or amused. None of them except one knew Raikou's true reason for volunteering. That Pokemon was Darkrai, one of Raikou's friends.

Friend wasn't a good word for their situation.

Father seemed to fit Darkrai's description better, as he watched over the thunder tiger every time Raikou made some dumb mistake or a childish joke.

Darkrai smirked. Raikou had told Darkrai long ago of his feelings and now the dark type had no doubts that Raikou was royally screwed.

"Uh, I mean, if that's okay," Raikou said nervously.

"Thank you Raikou," Arceus said. "It would be more than okay. Your generous offer would definitely help Latias incredibly."

Raikou almost noticed a smirk form on Arceus's lips. Did Arceus know of Raikou's feelings too?

Latias smiled brightly at Raikou's request. She and Raikou were friends, and she was glad to have a friend help her out in her time of need.

"Now with that out of the way, meeting adjourned!" Arceus yelled, with a sore throat.

Arceus had created Latios, he sure wasn't happy to lose him.

"Raikou!" Latias exclaimed. She ran over and hugged him with full force.

"Thank you for this," she said happily.

"Uh... O-of course!" He said. "I wouldn't hesitate to help my friend."

She smiled and did something no one, even him was expecting.

She kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you," she said.

* * *

Alto.

Mare.

Was.

So.

Boring.

Raikou sighed with boredom. He expected a different reaction from Latias than what he got. He expected her to be sad, but thankful that he did this for her. Instead, he got a squealing, fired up monster who could not wait to show him around Alto Mare.

 _How did I get myself into this?_ Raikou thought. _Oh yeah. I wanted this._

Besides Latias's squealing happiness, Alto Mare seemed to be much more calm than he expected. People did gaze and wonder at the sight of another legendary, but after a few minutes, the excitement died down. Deep down inside it disappointed Raikou, for his arrogant behavior made him think more of himself. He always loved having the attention of others, yet.. Now it seemed wrong. He only wanted one person's attention, and that person currently was-

"RAIKOU!" She yelled.

His head snapped over towards her. He had been following her towards what seemed to be her home, only they were at a dead end.

"Go inside!" She said.

"Inside what?" The thunder tiger asked, with a distinct sound of tiredness in his voice.

"The wall, silly!" Latias yelled.

She floated towards the wall until she seemed to disappear in it.

"Latias?" He said, with caution.

He stuck a paw in cautiously.

"Looks like I have no choice..." Raikou muttered.

As soon as he went inside, Latias hugged him, sending him back a bit.

"Good heavens!" A voice said.

Raikou was in his battle stance in the blink of an eye which just made Latias laugh.

"That's just Bianca!" Latias said. "She watches over the garden."

And as soon as that sentence was over, Latias went over to Bianca and pointed to the soul dew. She then made a sad face and came over and hugged Raikou.

"So.." She said, cautiously. "You came here to help Latias with her grief over Latios's death?"

He nodded.

"That's nice," Bianca said. "You legendaries need to look out for one another."

And with that, she left to work in the garden.

Nightfall came quickly to Raikou. Spending time with the one you love helps the day go by quicker. Latias showed Raikou around the garden, laughing and joking along the way. Everything seem to make Raikou love her more. He loved her laugh, her eyes, the way she smiles...

 _Dammit,_ he thought. _If I could just get her out of my head I might be able to sleep..._

"Raikou?"

Said thunder tiger was sleeping on a flowery patch Latias had shown him to. The red eon dragon was sleeping next to the fountain that contained the soul dew. It helped her sleep, according to her.

"I can't get any sleep," Latias said, sighing. "Latios and I used to sleep together. It really comforted me..."

Raikou almost jumped. If she was implying what he thought she was implying, Raikou would barely get through the night without confessing his love to her. He discovered that when you spend a lot of time with the one you love, it makes it hard to conceal the secret of that love.

Stil... She needed his help.

"Uh.." He managed to choke out, "You c-can sleep with me.."

"Oh thank you Raikou!" She exclaimed.

He couldn't see her but he knew she had a happy smile on her face.

Latias flew over to his flower patch and slowly floated down and rested to Raikou's side.

He heart skipped a beat as she sighed with content. She was happy, and that fact made Raikou happy. Still, even though she seemed to like him a lot, he still did not predict what happened next.

"You seem different," she said.

"How do?" Raikou inquired.

She sighed. "You're usually upbeat and cheerful. All I've seen of you today is you looking thoughtful."

His heart was pounding. He had to do it.

"Latias," he began, "are you beginning to recover?"

Once again, Raikou had chikened out on something. The thunder tiger mentally face palmed due to his one stupidity. Why couldn't he just summon up the courage and say it?

"I don't know," she said sadly. "I mean, I still love and miss him, but.." She thought for a second to gather her thoughts into a coherent statement.

"I think it's wrong for me to forget about everything I still have."

"What are some of those things?" Raikou asked, his heart pounding.

"Things like you!" She said happily. "Latios was my brother, and I loved him. He wouldn't want me to be sad forever, though. He would want me to be happy. I've already moped around for the last few days. I want to be happy with you."

He knew what he had to say.

"Latias.. There's something I've been meaning to tell you for a long time.."

She stopped him there, smiling next to him. "It's okay," she said. "I know what it is, and I love you too."

Raikou smiled more than he's ever smiled before. And as the soul dew shined like the moon, nothing that night could have shined as much as them.

* * *

"It's over Latios."

Giratina sighed. The blue eon dragon had been watching his sister throughout the last few days he'd been with her. And honestly, Giratina couldn't give a damn about Latios's shrieking and pleading. He was like every other soul.

"I know..." He said, sighing. The mist of Turnback cave was not helping him accept his sister's happiness.

"I just.. I miss her.."

"She is happy," Giratina said, emotionless. "Let it be that way."

"I guess it is how it is then," Latios said. "I'll miss you Giratina, regardless of if you cared about me or not."

Giratina smiled sadly. Even though he had been just another soul, he felt special. Regardless, it was his time. He needed to move on.

"Goodbye Latios."

Latios disappeared, for having accepted his death, he moved on to the other side.

* * *

How was it? Anyway, please review. Don't insult me, it was my first try at a hard subject.


End file.
